


Bloodied Petals

by koganeisms (reiirae)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Unrequited Love, minor gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 11:24:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13145658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reiirae/pseuds/koganeisms
Summary: My Secret Santa 2017 gift for forkinglovesbunnies / mmilktea! <3





	Bloodied Petals

It was something of a daily occurrence now for Keith, finding himself stood in front of a sink with bloodied petals littering the basin. He coughed again, the sound strangled from the ache in this throat. He gagged, his brain unsure as to whether he need to cough or vomit at this point. Wiping a hand roughly across his mouth, looking at the crimson streaks lining it. He didn’t make a noise as he stuck his hands under the running tap, rubbing furiously at the stains. He finished clearing up the mess of petals and blood, he unlocked the door and slipped back into his room silently.

The boy laid on his bed, exhausted, still scrubbing at small blood stains around his fingernails. It was tiring, having to choke up petals on an almost daily basis. Keith still couldn’t explain it - nothing quite explained the strange illness that had taken over throughout the last few weeks. He couldn’t lie - the condition terrified him, but there was no way he could bring something like this up in conversation, considering how strange it was. 

He rolled onto his side, exhaling loudly as he did so. Brushing his long bangs out of his eyes, he looked down at his hands briefly, unable to stop the heavy sigh that forced its way out of his lungs. 

“Keith? Are you busy?” Shiro called up, his voice cutting into the boy’s thoughts harshly. Keith hesitated for a few moments before yelling back tiredly.

“No. Did you let yourself in?” 

“Yeah. I hope you don’t mind.” Shiro called back, his voice closer this time - from what Keith could hear, he was probably outside the bedroom door. “I wanted to check you’re doing okay after yesterday.”

Keith sighed at the reminder, burying his face into the pillow. The previous day had seen him sent home from school after he’d started choking up more blood, creating so much concern from his teachers that he was told to take the rest of the day off. The raven-haired boy had reluctantly agreed, and he hadn’t showed up to school that day either. He couldn’t find the energy to drag himself out of bed that morning, and when he had briefly considered getting out of bed he was overcome by the immense pressure in his chest, which was soon followed by yet another choking fit.

“I’m fine.” he called out, voice still hoarse from the constant strain on his throat. He heard Shiro’s sigh softly outside the room, before slowly pushing the door open and into the room. 

“I brought you some food, if you feel like eating. It’s in the kitchen.” Shiro said quietly, biting his lip anxiously. “You look pretty rough. Are you sure you don’t need some medicine or something?”

Keith looked up at Shiro, ignoring the sharp, stabbing pain in his heart from meeting the eyes of the taller male and offering a weak smile instead. “I’ll grab some later. Thanks, Shiro. It means a lot.” he paused and coughed quietly, before continuing. “I wouldn’t say I’m doing so good. But I’ll be okay, Shiro. It’s probably nothing.”

Shiro wore an expression of concern as the raven-haired boy spoke. “Coughing up blood is serious, Keith. Haven’t you been to see a doctor or something yet?”

“No. Couldn’t get an appointment.” Keith lied, breaking his gaze away from Shiro. The truth was that he hadn’t even considered seeing a doctor, knowing they’d probably be unable to find any kind of rational explanation for his state. He was hoping he could wait it out, and eventually it would be gone. Keith rarely got ill - hopefully this wouldn’t last too long.

“I can try calling again for you tomorrow morning.” Shiro offered, the concern now evident in his voice too. Keith shook his head dismissively, struggling to sit upright.

“Seriously, Shiro, I’ll be fine. I’m don't usually get sick, so it’s probably nothing major.” he insisted, trying to give Shiro a convincing smile. He knew the male didn’t believe him, but he seemed to pretend to if he knew it would keep Keith happy. 

“If you’re sure, Keith.” he murmured, his expression becoming one of sympathy. “If you need anything, I’m only a phone call away.” he promised.

“I know, Shiro. I appreciate it.” he replied, leaning back against the headrest. “Thank you.”

Shiro smiled softly, nodding to the boy. “It’s never a problem, Keith. Anyway, I should probably be on my way anyway. I promised Matt I’d help him study for a test.”

Keith nodded, despite the stinging pain in his chest at the sound of Shiro saying Matt’s name. “Yeah. You don’t wanna keep him waiting.” he mumbled, dropping his gaze back to the bedsheets. “I’ll see you later, Shiro.” 

Shiro left just as quietly as he’d arrived, leaving Keith in the silence of his home again. The boy laid there, unmoving, trying to slow the pace of his heart. 

He knew it was hopeless - Shiro had no romantic interest in him, and likely never would. He loved Matt, which was of little surprise really. Matt was funny and charming and interesting; he could light up a room the instant he walked in. That’s probably what Shiro saw in the boy, and what made it hard for Keith to catch Shiro’s eye. He only had eyes for Matt, and he knew of Shiro’s plan to ask the boy out before the end of the year. 

Keith was heartbroken at the news, despite his best attempts to conceal it. Shiro either hadn’t noticed or hadn’t mentioned it - Keith was unsure which one was true, or even both - so the boy assumed he was doing a pretty good job of keeping it hidden. He found himself speaking to Matt less and less, likely out of jealousy, even though he told himself it was anything but that. Matt was his friend - it wasn’t his fault that Shiro wanted to date him, and he couldn’t take it out on him like that. His brain didn’t seem to agree, though.

He continued to lay there, unmoving, letting his mind run through the painful memories and ideas relating to Shiro and Matt. It wasn’t Shiro’s fault he wasn’t romantically interested in Keith, he reasoned, even though he knew he didn’t believe it. 

If he was to be completely honest, he hated Matt with a passion. Keith had never wanted to dislike the boy so much, but as the flowers in his lungs grew, so did his hatred for Matt. He was the boy who stole Shiro’s attentions away from him, made it impossible for the boy to catch the older male’s eye, ruined his life. If he never saw Matt again it’d be too soon. But he couldn’t do that, couldn’t say anything cruel to him, because Shiro wouldn’t be happy if Keith was cruel to Matt, and he’d prefer to die than upset Shiro. So for the time being, he’d have to be at the very least polite to the boy, despite his secret distaste. 

He finally moved, pushing himself up onto his elbows, and then into a sitting position. Another strangled cough escaped as he sat up, before he swung his legs over the side his bed and shakily standing up. He used to side of the bed to steady himself, waiting for the pain in his throat to subside a little before slowly exiting the room and making his way down the stairs. 

The food Shiro had left was laid out neatly in the kitchen, all in containers and cling-filmed cover plates. He didn’t quite register it, though, only really bothered that Shiro still cared enough to bring him food when he was sick. Soon enough, Matt would be the focus of his attention, and Keith would be pushed aside even more. That hurt his heart, and Keith tried to push the thought aside. The urge to cough returned, and he felt the familiar pressure in his lungs and throat returning.

“P-Please, no more.” he croaked, placing a hand on his neck. Keith was well aware begging would do nothing to make the pain leave, but it gave him some kind of mild relief. He felt as though someone had plunged a knife into his chest and twisted it, while the petals creaked at his ribcage.

The pressure didn’t leave, though, and he found himself choking up even more blood and petals. His throat felt rough and scratchy from the constant coughing, the aching becoming increasingly worse as he continued to choke. The crimson liquid stained the kitchen tiles, and the blood-soaked petals stuck to the floor, small puddles developing in the soft dips. He stared at them in dismay, making no moves to clean them up. 

Part of him wanted to blame Matt for his illness, even though he was positive the boy had nothing to do with it. He just wanted a reason to hate Matt even more than he already did. Eventually he moved, grabbing a sponge from the draining board and running it under the tap for a few moments, then returned to the spot and crouched down among the blood and petals. He slowly cleaned them up, arm moving backwards and forwards in a monotonous motion. Keith almost looked to be in some form of trance, staring distantly at the tiles without really focusing on the mess he was cleaning. 

He was vaguely aware of the red stain fading away, and he stood back up, tossing the bloodstained sponge back onto the draining board without really paying attention to where it landed. Keith wasn’t used to being in such a helpless state - usually he was extremely aware of his surroundings, but the illness had reduced him to feeling somewhat lifeless. 

He wonder if this would kill him. Maybe he would choke to death, and he wouldn’t have to watch Shiro and Matt get together, breaking his already fractured heart into several more miniature pieces. Yeah, it’d upset a lot of people, but it would make his life a lot easier if he just died. Then he wouldn’t ever have to deal with his emotions in the aftermath of Shiro and Matt’s blossoming relationship. All that was blossoming around him was hated and flowers. 

All he really wanted was an explanation as to how this condition was even possible. How petals made their way into his lungs in the first place, and were now choking him to near death. He thought it quite coincidental that it became an issue shortly after Shiro confessed his feelings for Matt to Keith, and that was part of Keith’s reasoning to blame Matt for his illness. He hoped Matt would feel guilty if he died. But he wouldn’t, because Matt didn’t know about Keith’s feelings for Shiro.

He found himself sat the table now, running his fingertip around the rim of glass. There was a slight nick in the glass, likely from when he’d dropped it some time. His finger fell into the dip every time he looped the circle again. 

Maybe Matt would reject Shiro. Sure, the older boy would be upset, but it’d give Keith another chance to capture Shiro’s heart. He knew how selfish he sounded, but he was past caring at this point. Matt didn’t deserve Shiro in Keith’s eyes - in fact, Keith was the only person who truly deserved Shiro. The two had been friends for life; Keith knew the male inside and out. Nobody knew Shiro the same way Keith did, and that gave the young male a strange sense of satisfaction.

It was sick - Keith knew he was sick, and he shouldn’t have these awful, selfish thoughts when it came to his friend. It was wrong for him to want to take Shiro away. It was awful of him to hate Matt for the fact his best friend was attracted to him. He couldn’t stop his thoughts, though, and he’d ceased to try at this point. 

God, if it’d save him from choking up these bloodied petals every day, it’d be all he needed.


End file.
